Record-Breaking Giant Stingray Caught In Thailand [PICS + VIDEO]

A British man has wrangled what’s considered the largest freshwater fish ever caught anywhere. Ian Welch managed to bring in a 770-pound stingray from the Maeklong River in Thailand.

Largest Stingray: Nearly 800 Pounds

The stingray — which was five times Welch’s weight — measured 7 feet long by 7 feet wide. Its stinger alone was 10 feet long. Welch needed the help of a dozen men just to lift the thing out of the water.

“It dragged me across the boat,” Welch, 45, tells The Mirror. “I knew it was going to a big one. As soon as we saw it there was just silence. Everyone was in awe of this thing.”

Welch says it took a full 90 minutes to bring the nearly 800-pound stingray in. He and his team soon learned the giant stingray was actually a pregnant female. They released the massive creature back into the water.

The previous record for a freshwater fish caught with a rod, The Mirror reports, was a 646 pound catfish caught in 2005.

Giant Stingray Video

Welch and his fellow team members have brought in plenty of record-breaking stingrays in the past. The following videos show their struggle with another mammoth-sized stingray recently in the same Thailand river.